Prompt: In this observation, pay attention to how your teacher manages his or her classroom. What types of disruptions, if any, occur while you're visiting? How do they set the class in motion? How do they deal with interruptions (from the outside) and disruptions (from their students)? Determine whether there are students in the classes that you will teach that are especially troublesome. Ask your CT how he or she addresses these students' needs. Reflect on your "vision" of an ideal science classroom. What classroom policies will you try to implement in YOUR classroom? How does your vision align with your teaching philosophy?
Observe:
During my observations with Mr. Varden this week I concentrated on observing the way in which he manages his classroom. Mr. Varden is an excellent disciplinarian. He has established himself as the authority figure in ALL of his classes and his students truly respect him and do not want to upset him. He respects the students as well and he has thus established an adult relationship with all of them. During my visits with Mr. Varden, I have witnessed very few disciplinary issues. The orderliness of his class can be attributed to some of the simple routines that Mr. Varden facilitates every day. Mr. Varden asks that the students enter his classroom each day and quietly work on the daily question that he has already posted on the board at the beginning of each period. Since the students have something to do when they enter the room, they seem to calm down very quickly. They each complete the daily question and put their answer in a jar at the front of the classroom. At the end of the period, Mr. Varden returns to the daily question and chooses student's responses until someone gets the question correct. This student receives an extra credit point. This end of day routine keeps the students in order at the end of the period as well. They are required to remain at their desks while Mr. Varden is drawing names and they can not leave their desks until the bell rings AND Mr. Varden dismisses them. He told me that the simple routine of dismissing students is a constant reminder for them about who is in charge. During class time there are very few distractions and interruptions. Students that need to go to the bathroom take the initiative to walk to the side of the room and sign out (taking a "hall pass" with them). This eliminates the interruption that results when students ask to go to the bathroom. These simple routines definitely help to keep the physics classroom in order and they eliminate interruptions that may occur throughout the course of a given period. I have spent some time during this fall practicum getting to know the students. In doing so, I have an idea about which students could potentially be disruptive to my class when I take over in the spring. There is one student who sits in the back of Mr. Varden's Physics CP class who is constantly talking with his friends. I noticed that Mr. Varden is always involving this student in the discussions in order to keep him focused on the task at hand. There is also a girl in this same class that is constantly taking out her cell phone and texting. Mr. Varden caught her and threatened to send her down to the office if he saw her doing that again. I will keep this students in mind when I take over the class in January. Other than these few students, the majority of the students in Mr. Varden's classes are incredibly well behaved and I am excited to get the opportunity to teach them.
Reflect: Classroom management is certainly my biggest concern as I prepare to student teach in the spring. I fear that the students will not respect me because I am so young looking. Because of this, I want to prepare myself as well as I can with different disciplinary strategies and techniques that will allow me to establish order within my future classroom. I will definitely use some of Mr. Varden's techniques in order to accomplish this. I will establish an adult relationship with all of my students and make sure that they know that I care about them and want them to be successful in my classroom. I want to be a fair teacher with clear expectations so that students are never frustrated with the class assignments. I will also use Mr. Varden's regular daily routines. I think that the daily question is a great way to start and end the day and I also think that the "dismissing the class" strategy is great. Students need to always remember that the teacher is in charge and that's a great way to remind them. They have to remain at their desks after the bell sounds until I verbally dismiss them. I also will use Mr. Varden's bathroom procedure. I think that it is an unnecessary interruption when students raise their hand to ask to go to the bathroom. I will only allow one out at a time (which the hall pass will help establish) but I will not require the students to ask me for permission. I am excited to pick up more of these classroom management techniques from Mr. Varden and I am excited to attempt to implement them on my own in the spring!
Observe:
During my observations with Mr. Varden this week I concentrated on observing the way in which he manages his classroom. Mr. Varden is an excellent disciplinarian. He has established himself as the authority figure in ALL of his classes and his students truly respect him and do not want to upset him. He respects the students as well and he has thus established an adult relationship with all of them. During my visits with Mr. Varden, I have witnessed very few disciplinary issues. The orderliness of his class can be attributed to some of the simple routines that Mr. Varden facilitates every day. Mr. Varden asks that the students enter his classroom each day and quietly work on the daily question that he has already posted on the board at the beginning of each period. Since the students have something to do when they enter the room, they seem to calm down very quickly. They each complete the daily question and put their answer in a jar at the front of the classroom. At the end of the period, Mr. Varden returns to the daily question and chooses student's responses until someone gets the question correct. This student receives an extra credit point. This end of day routine keeps the students in order at the end of the period as well. They are required to remain at their desks while Mr. Varden is drawing names and they can not leave their desks until the bell rings AND Mr. Varden dismisses them. He told me that the simple routine of dismissing students is a constant reminder for them about who is in charge. During class time there are very few distractions and interruptions. Students that need to go to the bathroom take the initiative to walk to the side of the room and sign out (taking a "hall pass" with them). This eliminates the interruption that results when students ask to go to the bathroom. These simple routines definitely help to keep the physics classroom in order and they eliminate interruptions that may occur throughout the course of a given period.
I have spent some time during this fall practicum getting to know the students. In doing so, I have an idea about which students could potentially be disruptive to my class when I take over in the spring. There is one student who sits in the back of Mr. Varden's Physics CP class who is constantly talking with his friends. I noticed that Mr. Varden is always involving this student in the discussions in order to keep him focused on the task at hand. There is also a girl in this same class that is constantly taking out her cell phone and texting. Mr. Varden caught her and threatened to send her down to the office if he saw her doing that again. I will keep this students in mind when I take over the class in January. Other than these few students, the majority of the students in Mr. Varden's classes are incredibly well behaved and I am excited to get the opportunity to teach them.
Reflect:
Classroom management is certainly my biggest concern as I prepare to student teach in the spring. I fear that the students will not respect me because I am so young looking. Because of this, I want to prepare myself as well as I can with different disciplinary strategies and techniques that will allow me to establish order within my future classroom. I will definitely use some of Mr. Varden's techniques in order to accomplish this. I will establish an adult relationship with all of my students and make sure that they know that I care about them and want them to be successful in my classroom. I want to be a fair teacher with clear expectations so that students are never frustrated with the class assignments. I will also use Mr. Varden's regular daily routines. I think that the daily question is a great way to start and end the day and I also think that the "dismissing the class" strategy is great. Students need to always remember that the teacher is in charge and that's a great way to remind them. They have to remain at their desks after the bell sounds until I verbally dismiss them. I also will use Mr. Varden's bathroom procedure. I think that it is an unnecessary interruption when students raise their hand to ask to go to the bathroom. I will only allow one out at a time (which the hall pass will help establish) but I will not require the students to ask me for permission. I am excited to pick up more of these classroom management techniques from Mr. Varden and I am excited to attempt to implement them on my own in the spring!